Writing a prayer for your husband

Every now and then Teri Lynne Underwood and I talk on the phone, and I feel like I could look out the kitchen window and see her laundry hanging on the line. She’s an “over the fence” friend who really lives over the state line, but I’ve been blessed to write and minister with her over our shared love of God’s word and women who seek Him. As a fellow ministry wife, we share our hearts about church life, and as a fellow blogger … I’m always learning from her! Her blog home is Permission to Live Well. She was such a great help with EXPECTANT, for which I’m so grateful. Today she lets us listen in to the prayer she wrote for her husband this year. I almost feel like I shouldn’t be reading it … except that she has opened her heart and welcomed us all in.  We aren’t eavesdropping through her laundry line, friends. She offers this as a gift in the Summer of Wedded Wisdom with my girlfriends. Will you sit down and read with me? I know you’ll be inspired too.  Welcome to my little Peace, Teri Lynne!

I’m so thankful to be sharing here in Julie’s space. I absolutely love her … and I couldn’t even begin to express how much her friendship has encouraged and enriched my life.

As I considered what I could possibly add to all the wisdom shared here this summer, I realized almost everything I’d say about marriage has already been shared by some amazing women of God.

• Your husband isn’t supposed to meet every one of your needs. Cheri Gregory
• Prayer is the best way to respond to the messy times in our marriages. Mary Boswell
• We have to choose to see the positive. Lynn Mosher
• Celebrate your husband! Let your marriage be art for His glory. Christen Price
• We need to ask God to reveal to us what our husbands need from us! Dana Bailey
• We need to be willing to allow our marriages to grow. Becky Kopitzke
• Choose to wake up in your marriage! Holly Smith
• Our marriages need God to succeed. Joanne Kraft

I looked back at several of my own blog posts about marriage and looked through my journals for some inspiration. Over the years, I’ve made it a habit to develop a prayer for my husband each year. Typically I do this during June as both Scott’s birthday and our anniversary are in that month. Basically I ask the Lord to reveal to me a few Scriptures I can pray for Scott in the coming year. One year I used Ephesians 6:10-20 as a guide, praying for him to be clothed in the spiritual armor of the Lord. I’ve also based my prayer on Galatians 5:22-23 asking for the fruit of the Spirit to be rooted deep in my husband’s heart and actions.

This year, I’ve crafted a prayer based on Scott’s life verse — Micah 6:8.

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God. {ESV}

This is my prayer over my husband for our 18th year of marriage:

Father, You know Scott’s heart. You alone know the depths of his longings and his desires. You see in him the beauty of Your creation and the glory of Your image. Thank You for giving me glimpses of those things as well. In the year ahead, I pray earnestly for You to reveal to him the places where he can be a part of bringing justice in this world. Continue to open his eyes to the plight of those who are disconnected, disenfranchised, and far too often unseen. Use his gifts and his heart to make others aware of the needs around us and allow him to lead the way in doing justice for Your sake.

I thank You for the heart of kindness You have given Scott. I am always humbled when I see the way he cares for others, the way he sacrifices to help others, the way he gives generously of his time and abilities to encourage others. I pray You will grow that kind heart of his … use it this year in ways we could never dream or imagine. Let him be a beacon of love and compassion for those around him.

It’s a hard thing sometimes to be married to someone who is humble, Lord. I like the spotlight and the attention, Scott doesn’t. I want to tell others the good things he does, the ways he ministers, the lives he touches. But he would always rather do those things with no accolades, no fanfare. He’s the one who turns off lights and picks up trash, who listens without speaking, who loves without judging. In these months ahead, Lord, I pray You will whisper words of affirmation from Your heart to his. Draw him ever closer to You.

I can’t imagine that You have afforded me the honor of being Mrs. Scott Underwood. Thank You for giving me an incredible husband. It is a gift to be married to a man whose life points me every day to You.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

I’d encourage you to write a prayer for your husband. Put it in your prayer journal. You can share it with him or not, whichever you’d prefer. But write out those words of blessing and gratitude. For me, this exercise has deepened my my prayers for my husband. Of course I still pray daily for his schedule and other needs in his life but these annual prayers have become the overarching theme of my prayers for him.

What Scripture would you use as a basis for a prayer like this for your husband?

—
Teri Lynne Underwood
Permission to Live Well

encouragement & practical help for women seeking to live abundant lives
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Author, Prayers from the Pews and Parenting from the Overflow
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